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We slipped up in Paris terror, admits elite police unit

Mourners pay homage to the victims of the killings in November (Xavier Popy/Rea)

AFTER weeks of mourning, solemn commemorations and debate, France is finally
turning its attention to the alleged shortcomings of its police response on
the night of terror in Paris on November 13 when Islamist gunmen killed 130
people and injured several hundred.

Among questions being raised is why a specialised antiterrorist unit did not
reach the Bataclan concert hall where 90 people were shot dead until half an
hour after the attack had begun. And why did it take its officers nearly
three hours to secure the venue?

Security forces that night confronted a nightmare no training exercise could
have prepared them for, with three teams of terrorists running amok in the
capital and six sites — including the national football stadium where
President François Hollande was in danger — under attack almost
simultaneously in the worst violence on French soil since the Second World
War.